Cigarette case



March 2 1926;

G. N. LYQNS CIGARETTE CASE Filed Dec. 29, 1923 George (Lyon-s;

JNVENTOR A TTORNEY and improved cigarette case;

Patented Mar. 2, 1926. I

UNITED STATES 1,575,121 PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE w. LYONs, or NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR To THE LYONS MANU- FAC'IURING COMPA Y, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON- NECTICUT.

Application'filed December 29, 1923.

'To all whom it may concern:

1 Be it known that I, GEORGE W. LYONS, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cigarette Cases, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. 2

This invention relates to improvements in cigarette cases and has for its object, among other things, to simplify the structure of this type of mechanism, to increase its eiiiciency, to so design the parts that they may be more economically constructed and more easily and readily assembled, and produce a cigarette case wherein the movement of the cigarettes may be controlled and discharged therefrom without injury or damage thereto. 3

To these, and other ends, my invention consists in the new. and improved cigarette case, having certain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like numerals of reference designate like parts in the several figures; I

Figure 1 is a side elevation of mynew Figure 2 is a sectional View, erally upon line 22 of Figure 1;

: Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view, taken generally upon line 3-3 of Figure 2;

taken gen Figure 4 is also an enlarged sectional view, taken generally upon line 44 of Fig ure 2, and j Fig. 5 is a perspective 'view of the follower. I I

closed herein, 10 designates the body of the case, which isconstructed with an outwardly projecting rib 11 upon each of the side walls near the top thereof, a discharge opening 12 near one end of one of the walls, a lever v opening 13 also through the same wall and adjacent to said opening, and a lug 14 projecting inwardly from one of the end walls thereof. I

The cover 15 also has a rib 16 upon each of the opposite side Walls thereof, into each of which projects one of the ribs 11 when the cover is assembled with the body, substantiallyas shown in Figure 4, and by rea- CIGARETTE CASE.

SerialNo. 683,443.

son of which the cover has a sliding engagement with the body. A finger clip 17 at one end of the cover provides means by which the cover may be easily manipulated by the fingers.

In one of the side walls of the cover is an opening 18, which is opposite the opening 12 when the cover is in its closed position, substantially as shown in Figure 1, and a cut away portion 19 in the same side wall insures a free movement of the finger plate 20 of the throwing lever 21.

IVithin the body 10 is fixed an inner plate 22, having thereon a plurality of bosses 23, which rest upon the inside of the bottom of the body and between which is an open space 24. Upon opposite sides of this inner plate are the walls 25, which terminate in the Outwardly turned flanges 26 that project into the groove formed on the inside of the ribs 11. A rigid support is thus formed for the inner plate. The outer end of the inner plate is held in alignment by the preferably integral finger 27, the upper end of which is sprung under the lug 14, substantially as shown in Figure 4. Thus the side and one jectsupwardly in the path of one end of the cover 15, thus limiting the outward position of said cover relatively to the body. The end of this inner plate opposite to that having the lugs 28' thereon is cut away at 29 and the remainder of the width thereof is provided with a pocket portion 30, which "rests upon the bottom of the body and hav- In'the' embodiment of my Inventionas dising a curvature substantially the same as that of the cigarette.

The cigarettes are held within the case by a metal strap 31, having a foot portion 32 that projects into the open space 24 and between two of the bosses 23, substantially as shown in Figures 3 and 4. This strap is flexible and terminates in the head 33 of slightly greater width than the body of the strap. Slidably mounted upon this strap, betweenthe inner plate 22 and the cover 15, is a follower 34, which, as shown, is constructed fromv a single piece of metal having opposite side walls 35, a concave front wall'36 and end walls 37. A spring 38 between this follower and one end of the body 10 exerts its tension so as to move the follower toward that end of the body having the discharge opening 12 therethrough.

The case is loaded with cigarettes by sliding the cover outwardly until the end wall 48 thereof engages the stop 28 and then placing the cigarettes between the inner plate 22, and the underside of the strap 31. The first cigarette inserted rests in the pocket of the front wall 36 of the follower.

the inner plate 22 by the pivot 40, having an ejector finger -11 at its outer end and a rounded end 42 at the opposite end which rests in a socket in the throwing lever 21. This latter lever isheld in a guided relation with the inner plate 22 by the guide pin 4:3

fixed in said inner plate and projecting through ail-opening 44- in said lever with a head 45 thereon that lies within the, recess 46 in one side of said lever. These levers are movably connected with the inner plate 22 and move within the open space 2% between the inner plate and bottom of the body 10 and have no connection whatsoever with said body, and the guided means for connecting the throwing lever 21 with said plate insures a permanent operativeconnection between the two levers that will not become separated or disengaged from each other by accidental or other means so as to impair the efliciency of the ejecting mechanism.

Fixed in one end of the throwing lever 21 is a spring 47, which rests against one of the side walls of the body 10 and exerts its tension so as to normally hold the two levers in substantially the position shown in Figure 2, that is, the ejector finger 41 in its re- 'tracted position and the finger plate 20 in its outermost position. Pressure applied to the throwing lever 21 through the finger plate 20 rocks the ejecting lever 39 and the finger 41 moves the cigarette in line therewith through the discharge opening 12. As soon as pressure is released upon the lever 21, the spring 4-7 returns the levers to the position illustrated in Figure 2, and the spring 38 advances the follower 8d and presents the next succeeding cigarette in line with the ejecting finger and discharge openmg.

Obviously, there :are many minor changes and alterations that may be made within my invention, aside from those herein suggested, and I would therefore have itunderstood that I do not limit myself to the exact construction herein shown and described, but claim all that falls fairly within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invent-ion, what I claim asnewand desiretoseeure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a cigarette case; a body; a cover movably connected therewith; an inner plate connected with said body; and ejector mechanism comprising companion levers movably mounted upon said inner plate and spaced from the body so as to move freely relatively thereto irrespective of the shape or smoothness of the adjacent face of the body.

2. In a cigarette case; a body having an inwardly projecting lug; a cover movably connected therewith; an inner plate connected with said body and held in position at one end by means of an intermeshing engagement with said lug.

In a cigarette case; a body; a cover movably connected therewith; and an inner plate connected with said body having a pocket portion at one end thereof in which the cigarette moves while being ejected.

4. In a cigarette case; a body; a cover movably connected therewith; an inner plate connected with said body, held in position in part by means of an inter meshing engagement therewith and in spa ed rela tion with said body by one or more bosses thereon.

5. In a cigarette case; a body; a cover movably connected therewith; an inner plate connected with said body, held in position in part byv means of an intermeshing engagement therewith, and in spa ed relation with said body byone or more bosses thereon; and eject-or mechanism movably and inseparably connected with said inner plate and movable within the open space between said bosses.

6. In a cigarette case; a body having ribs upon the side walls thereof; and an inner plate having walls, parts of which intermesh with said ribs and provide means for holding the inner plate in fixed relation with the body.

7. In a cigarette case; a body ha ing ribs upon the side walls thereof; a co er movably connected therewith; an inner plate having walls, parts of which intermes h with said ribs and provide means for holding the inner plate in fixed relation with the body; and stop means connected with one of said walls for limiting the movement of said cover relatively to said body.

8. In a cigarette case; abody hav ng ribs upon the side walls thereof: and an inner plate having walls with flanges projecting laterally therefrom and into the grooves formed by said ribs, whereby the plate is held in fixed relation to said body 9. In a cigarette case; a body having ribs upon the side walls thereof; an inner plate having walls, parts of which interm sh with said ribs; and means connected with said plate at one end thereof having an intermeshing engagement with a part connected with said body, whereby said plate is held in fixed relation with said body.

10. In a cigarette case; a body having ribs upon the side walls thereof; an inner plate held in fixed relation with said body by engagement of parts thereon with said ribs and by the engagement of another part with a lug upon the body 11. In a cigarette case; a body; a cover movably connected therewith; an inner plate connected with said body; and ejector mechanism comprising companion levers movablyconnected with said inner plate, one of said levers having a pivotal connection with the inner plate and the other having a guided connection therewith by means of a pin fixed in said plate that projects through an opening in the lever and having means thereon to hold the lever from movement parallel with its axis.

12. In a cigarette case; a body; a covermovably connected therewith; an inner plate connected with said body; and ejector mechanism comprising companion levers movably connected with said inner plate, one of said levers having a pivotal connection with the inner plate and the other having a guided connection therewith by means of a pin fixed in said plate that projects through an opening in the lever and having means thereon to hold the lever from movement parallel with its axis, said npeans being flush at one end with the face of the last mentioned lever.

13. In a cigarette case; a body; a cover movably connected therewith; an inner plate connected with said body; ejector mechanism comprising companion levers movably connected with said inner plate,

one of said levers having a pivotal eonnection with the inner plate and the other having a guided connection therewith by means of a pin fixed in said plate that projects through a recessed opening in the lever and having a head thereon that lies within the recess of said opening to hold the lever from movement parallel with the axis of the pin.

let. In a cigarette case; a body; a cover movably connected therewith; a strap fixed in said body at one end and projecting to the opposite end thereof that holds the cigarettes in alignment with the case; a follower having an opening therethrough for said strap; and spring means for actuating said follower in one direction.

15. In a cigarette case; a body; a cover movably connected therewith; a strap fixed in said body at one end and projecting to the opposite'end th reof that holds the cigarettes in alignment with the ease; and a follower having means connected therewith for preventing lateral movement of said strap in relation thereto. 7

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto afiixed my signature.

GEORGE W. LYONS. 

